Devices and methods for facilitating non-orthogonal wireless communications

ABSTRACT

Wireless communication devices are adapted to facilitate transmission and reception of non-orthogonal communications. In one example, wireless communication devices can encode an amount of data in accordance with information that at least some of the data will be transmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission. The wireless communication device may further transmit the encoded data, and the encoded data can be non-orthogonally combined as part of a non-orthogonal transmission. In another example, wireless communication devices can receive a wireless transmission including a plurality of data streams non-orthogonally combined together. The wireless communication device may decode at least one of the data streams. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also included.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present Application for Patent claims priority to ProvisionalApplication No. 62/010,122 entitled “Devices and Methods For IdentifyingNon-Orthogonal Wireless Communications” filed Jun. 10, 2014, andassigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated byreference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technology discussed below relates generally to wirelesscommunications, and more specifically to methods and devices forfacilitating modulation and coding to enable multiple usernon-orthogonal communications in a wireless communications system.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be accessed byvarious types of devices adapted to facilitate wireless communications,where multiple devices share the available system resources (e.g., time,frequency, and power).

Multiple types of devices are adapted to utilize such wirelesscommunications systems. These devices may be generally referred to aswireless communication devices and/or access terminals. As the demandfor mobile broadband access continues to increase, research anddevelopment continue to advance wireless communication technologies notonly to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but toadvance and enhance the user experience. In some instances, advances inthe ability to share the available system resources among accessterminals may be beneficial.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure toprovide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summaryis not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of thedisclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elementsof all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any orall aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present someconcepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

Various examples and implementations of the present disclosurefacilitate non-orthogonal wireless communications within a wirelesscommunications system. According to at least one aspect of thedisclosure, wireless communication devices are disclosed, which areadapted to facilitate non-orthogonal wireless communications. In atleast one example, wireless communication devices may include an encoderadapted to encode data in accordance with information that the data willbe transmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission. A transmittercircuit may also be included, where the transmitter circuit may beadapted to wirelessly transmit the encoded data output by the encoder.The encoded data is non-orthogonally combined as part of anon-orthogonal transmission.

In at least one other example, wireless communication devices mayinclude a receiver circuit adapted to receive a wireless transmissionincluding a plurality of data streams non-orthogonally combinedtogether. The plurality of data streams may be associated with aplurality of different devices. A decoder may be coupled to the receivercircuit to obtain the wireless transmission. The decoder may be adaptedto decode at least one of the data streams.

Additional aspects of the present disclosure include methods operationalon an access terminal and/or means for performing such methods.According to at least one example, such methods may include encoding anamount of data in response to a determination that at least some of thedata will be transmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission. Theencoded data may subsequently be transmitted, where the encoded data isnon-orthogonally combined as part of a non-orthogonal transmission.

According to at least one further example, such methods may includereceiving a wireless transmission including a plurality of data streamsnon-orthogonally combined together, where the plurality of data streamsare associated with a plurality of different devices. At least one ofthe data streams may be decoded from the received transmission.

Still further aspects of the present disclosure includeprocessor-readable storage mediums storing processor-executableprogramming. In at least one example, the processor-executableprogramming may be adapted to cause a processing circuit to encode anamount of data in accordance with information that at least some of thedata will be transmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission. Theprocessor-executable programming may be further adapted to cause aprocessing circuit to transmit the encoded data, where the encoded datais non-orthogonally combined as part of a non-orthogonal transmission.

In at least one additional example, the processor-executable programmingmay be adapted to cause a processing circuit to receive a wirelesstransmission including a plurality of data streams non-orthogonallycombined together, where the plurality of data streams are associatedwith a plurality of different devices. The processor-executableprogramming may be further adapted to cause a processing circuit todecode at least one of the data streams.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments associated with the presentdisclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artupon reviewing the following description in conjunction with theaccompanying figures.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network environment in which one or moreaspects of the present disclosure may find application.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of orthogonal multipleaccess.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of non-orthogonalmultiple access according to at least one example.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of multiplexingdifferent types of numerologies.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting an example of asynchronous uplinktransmissions leading to collisions.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating examples of synchronous andasynchronous multiplexing.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating select components of a wirelesscommunication device according to at least one example.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method operational on a wirelesscommunication device according to at least one example for facilitatingnon-orthogonal transmissions.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method operational on a wirelesscommunication device according to at least one example for facilitatingreception of non-orthogonal transmissions.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating non-orthogonal uplinktransmissions according to an example.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating error correcting code for thetwo transmissions from FIG. 10 according to at least one example.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of joint uplinkencoding and decoding.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a general non-orthogonaldownlink transmission according to at least one example.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram depicting one example of a process forencoding data for non-orthogonal downlink transmissions.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram depicting an example of the non-orthogonalmultiple access downlink transmissions using superposition coding.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram depicting an example of the non-orthogonalmultiple access downlink transmissions using dirty-paper coding.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating select components of a networkentity according to at least one example.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating a method operational on a networkentity according to at least one example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description set forth below in connection with the appended drawingsis intended as a description of various configurations and is notintended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts andfeatures described herein may be practiced. The following descriptionincludes specific details for the purpose of providing a thoroughunderstanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without thesespecific details. In some instances, well known circuits, structures,techniques and components are shown in block diagram form to avoidobscuring the described concepts and features.

The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure may beimplemented across a broad variety of telecommunication systems, networkarchitectures, and communication standards. In general, aspects of thepresent disclosure may be implemented in wireless communications betweentwo or more wireless communication devices. Some examples of wirelesscommunication devices include base stations and access terminals. By wayof example and not limitation, wireless communications may occur betweenaccess terminals and one or more base stations and/or between two ormore access terminals.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of one example of a networkenvironment in which one or more aspects of the present disclosure mayfind application is illustrated. In this example, the wirelesscommunications system 100 is adapted to facilitate wirelesscommunication between one or more base stations 102 and access terminals104, as well as between access terminals 104. The base stations 102 andaccess terminals 104 may be adapted to interact with one another throughwireless signals. In some instances, such wireless interaction may occuron multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). Eachmodulated signal may carry control information (e.g., pilot signals),overhead information, data, etc.

The base stations 102 can wirelessly communicate with the accessterminals 104 via a base station antenna, which may also include aplurality of remote antenna units spread across a geographic region. Thebase stations 102 may each be implemented generally as a device adaptedto facilitate wireless connectivity (for one or more access terminals104) to the wireless communications system 100. Such a base station 102may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a basetransceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, atransceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), and extended serviceset (ESS), a node B, a femto cell, a pico cell, or some other suitableterminology.

One or more access terminals 104 may be dispersed throughout thecoverage areas 106. Each access terminal 104 may communicate with one ormore base stations 102. An access terminal 104 may generally include oneor more devices that communicate with one or more other devices throughwireless signals. Such an access terminal 104 may also be referred to bythose skilled in the art as a user equipment (UE), a mobile station(MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wirelessunit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wirelesscommunications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, amobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, aterminal, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some othersuitable terminology. An access terminal 104 may include a mobileterminal and/or an at least substantially fixed terminal Examples of anaccess terminal 104 include a mobile phone, a pager, a wireless modem, apersonal digital assistant, a personal information manager (PIM), apersonal media player, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a television, an appliance, an e-reader, a digital videorecorder (DVR), a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, meter, entertainmentdevice, sensor, sensing device, wearable device, router, and/or othercommunication/computing device which communicates, at least partially,through a wireless or cellular network.

Although the example in FIG. 1 depicts traditional wirelesscommunications systems in which access terminals 104 communicate with anetwork through base stations 102, aspects of the present disclosure mayalso find application in a variety of other configurations of wirelesscommunications systems. By way of example and not limitation, aspects ofthe present disclosure may find application in any wirelesscommunication system in which wireless communications occur between twoor more wireless devices. Such wireless devices may be any combinationof base stations, access terminals, and/or other wireless devices.

As wireless devices communicate via wireless signaling, multiple devicesmay communicate at the same time using divisions in frequency. Forexample, FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an exampleof orthogonal multiple access. As shown on the left side in FIG. 2, inorthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), one user occupiesa single time and frequency resource block. Since the users areorthogonalized, they can be separated through linear processing acrosstime and frequency. In multi-user multiple input multiple output (MUMIMO) scenarios illustrated on the right in FIG. 2, the use of multipleantennas can enable users to utilize different layers for each resourceblock in time and frequency, such that two users in this example canemploy the same frequency in the same time, as long as they are usingdifferent divisions of space. Again, this allows the system to separateusers through appropriate linear processing.

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, wirelessdevices can be further adapted to facilitate an increase in the numbersof users or system capacity by employing non-orthogonal multiple access.FIG. 3 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example ofnon-orthogonal multiple access according to at least one example. Asshown, the non-orthogonal multiple access may enable more users perresource block. In other words, at least some users may not be linearlyseparated across either time, frequency, and/or spatial dimension. Forexample, compared to the examples in FIG. 2 where only two users werecapable of sharing a time and frequency block, the example in FIG. 3 mayenable five separate users to share time and frequency blocks, with eachuser being in a different spatial dimension. In additional examples, asshown in FIG. 3, one or more users may be misaligned in time with theother users. For instance, User 1 and User 6 are shown as beingmisaligned in the time axis with each other and with the other users.

To facilitate the non-orthogonal multiple access features describedherein, a receiver can be adapted to decode and cancel users to separatethem and/or treat other users as noise. Such a receiver may also beadapted to deal with collisions that may occur when one or more usersare not following the global timing.

Referring to FIG. 4, a block diagram conceptually illustrating anexample of multiplexing different types of numerologies is depicted.Some numerologies may include symbol duration, the pilot placement, etc.There may be some basic numerology that covers everything mobile, andthere may be low latency optimized symbols multiplexed therein. As anexample, a typical numerology to support mobility may include symbolswhich are 50 microseconds in duration and make up a transmission timeinterval (TTI) of 1 millisecond, whereas a numerology to support lowlatency may require a much shorter symbol of 5-10 microseconds and ashorter TTI of 0.25 millisecond. At 402, an example of synchronousorthogonal multiplexing is shown. In this example, low latencynumerology from User A punctures the nominal users' numerology, so thatthe User A data and the nominal users' data do not collide. This is anexample of time division multiplexing (TDM) where time is taken awayfrom the nominal users and given to User A to send the low latencynumerology.

In another example, at 404, a User B is employing synchronousnon-orthogonal overlapping. In this instance, User B also has lowlatency numerology, except that the User B numerology overlaps thenominal users' transmissions. Such overlap can improve efficiencies byincreasing capacity, and can reduce latencies created by puncturing withthe network coordinating the stopping of transmissions by the nominalusers and the transmissions by User A during that period. That is, whenthe two signals (e.g., nominal users' signals and User B signals) canoverlap, it enables User B to transmit right away without waiting to bescheduled.

In yet another example, at 406, a User C transmission is asynchronousbecause it is not adhering to any of the frame boundaries. The User Ctransmission is also non-orthogonal because it is colliding with thenominal user transmissions. An example of a User C device may be adevice that has small transmissions that is enabled to transmit as soonas an event to be reported is obtained without obtaining a grant andscheduling the transmission. By allowing the User C device to sendwithout obtaining a grant and without worrying about scheduling, theUser C device can reduce power consumption, and can reduce latency insending transmissions.

In still another example, at 408, a User D transmission is asynchronousin time because it is not adhering to any of the frame boundaries. Inthis example, the User D transmission is orthogonal because it istransmitting during a period when there is no nominal user transmission.In other words, the User D transmission is orthogonal because it is on adifferent time-frequency resource from everyone else. An example of theUser D transmission may be a carrier sense multiple access (CSMA)transmission.

Turning to FIG. 5, a block diagram is shown depicting an example ofasynchronous uplink transmissions leading to collisions. As shown, afirst user, User 1, may obtain data to be transmitted, and may transmitthat data at a first moment in time 502. A second user, User 2, may alsoobtain data to be transmitted. Since there is no requirement fortransmissions to be synchronous, the second user, User 2, may transmitits data at a second moment in time 504. Given a propagation delay 506,both transmissions may arrive at the receiving device (e.g., a basestation) in a manner in which the transmission from User 2 overlaps orcollides with the transmission from User 1. In order to receive bothtransmissions, the wireless devices (e.g., User 1, User 2, and receivingdevice) of the present disclosure may be adapted to support jointmodulation and coding for non-orthogonal multiple access such that theoverlapping transmissions can both be decoded (e.g., multiplesimultaneous decoding).

According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, wirelessdevices can employ joint modulation and encoding that is adapted tofacilitate joint decoding of the transmissions that have collided.

The various aspects may have application to synchronous and asynchronousmultiplexing. FIG. 6 is a block diagram conceptually illustratingexamples of synchronous and asynchronous multiplexing. In the conceptualdiagram, each block represents a symbol, and two consecutive blocksrepresent a frame. As shown, synchronous multiplexing 602 includesinstances where the two users' transmissions are aligned in time,framing, and symbol numerology. Asynchronous multiplexing occurswhenever the users are not aligned in at least one of these threeparameters. For instance, in the example at 604 User B is not aligned intime with User A. Thus, the two transmissions are asynchronous at 604.Further, in the example at 606 User B is not aligned in framing, sinceUser B is transmitting a thin frame and User A is transmitting aconventional frame. Thus, the two transmissions are asynchronous at 606as well. One additional example, which is not shown, can occur when twotransmissions are even asynchronous in terms of the symbol alignment.

Turning to FIG. 7, a block diagram is shown illustrating selectcomponents of a wireless communication device 700 according to at leastone example of the present disclosure. According to variousimplementations of the present disclosure, the wireless communicationdevice 700 may be configured to facilitate uplink and/or downlinknon-orthogonal wireless communications. As used in the presentdisclosure, an uplink transmission refers to any wireless transmissionsent by a transmitting wireless communication device to a receivingwireless communication device, where the receiving device is a devicethat receives and decodes wireless transmissions from multipletransmitting devices. Additionally, a downlink transmission refers toany wireless transmission sent by a transmitting wireless communicationdevice to more than one receiving wireless communication devices, whereeach of the multiple receiving devices receives and decodes thetransmissions from the transmitting device.

The wireless communication device 700 may include a processing circuit702 coupled to or placed in electrical communication with acommunications interface 704 and a storage medium 706.

The processing circuit 702 includes circuitry arranged to obtain,process and/or send data, control data access and storage, issuecommands, and control other desired operations. The processing circuit702 may include circuitry adapted to implement desired programmingprovided by appropriate media, and/or circuitry adapted to perform oneor more functions described in this disclosure. For example, theprocessing circuit 702 may be implemented as one or more processors, oneor more controllers, and/or other structure configured to executeexecutable programming Examples of the processing circuit 702 mayinclude a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP),an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic component, discrete gateor transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may include a microprocessor, as well as anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.The processing circuit 702 may also be implemented as a combination ofcomputing components, such as a combination of a DSP and amicroprocessor, a number of microprocessors, one or more microprocessorsin conjunction with a DSP core, an ASIC and a microprocessor, or anyother number of varying configurations. These examples of the processingcircuit 702 are for illustration and other suitable configurationswithin the scope of the present disclosure are also contemplated.

The processing circuit 702 can include circuitry adapted for processingdata, including the execution of programming, which may be stored on thestorage medium 706. As used herein, the term “programming” shall beconstrued broadly to include without limitation instructions,instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs,subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications,software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threadsof execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise.

In some instances, the processing circuit 702 may include an encoder708. The encoder 708 may include circuitry and/or programming (e.g.,programming stored on the storage medium 706) adapted to encode anamount of data to be transmitted by uplink non-orthogonal transmissionand/or downlink non-orthogonal transmission, as discussed in more detailbelow. In addition or in the alternative, the processing circuit 702 mayinclude a decoder 710. The decoder 710 may include circuitry and/orprogramming (e.g., programming stored on the storage medium 706) adaptedto receive and decode uplink non-orthogonal transmissions and/ordownlink non-orthogonal transmissions, as described in more detailbelow. In examples where the wireless communication device 700 includesboth an encoder 708 and a decoder 710, the two components may beimplemented by the same processing circuitry of the processing circuit702, or as separate processing circuitry of the processing circuit 702.

The communications interface 704 is configured to facilitate wirelesscommunications of the wireless communication device 700. For example,the communications interface 704 may include circuitry and/orprogramming adapted to facilitate the communication of informationbi-directionally with respect to one or more wireless communicationdevices (e.g., access terminals, network entities). The communicationsinterface 704 may be coupled to one or more antennas (not shown), andincludes wireless transceiver circuitry, including at least one receivercircuit 712 (e.g., one or more receiver chains) and/or at least onetransmitter circuit 714 (e.g., one or more transmitter chains). Thereceiver circuit 712 may be electronically coupled to the decoder 710,if present, either directly or indirectly to facilitate the conveyanceof non-orthogonal transmissions from the receiver circuit 712 to thedecoder 710, as discussed in greater detail below. The transmittercircuit 714 may be electronically coupled to the encoder 708, ifpresent, either directly or indirectly to facilitate the conveyance ofencoded data output by the encoder 708 for transmission by thetransmitter circuit 714 as part of non-orthogonal transmissions, asdiscussed in greater detail below.

The storage medium 706 may represent one or more processor-readabledevices for storing programming, such as processor executable code orinstructions (e.g., software, firmware), electronic data, databases, orother digital information. The storage medium 706 may also be used forstoring data that is manipulated by the processing circuit 702 whenexecuting programming. The storage medium 706 may be any available mediathat can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose processor,including portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices,and various other mediums capable of storing, containing and/or carryingprogramming By way of example and not limitation, the storage medium 706may include a processor-readable storage medium such as a magneticstorage device (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), anoptical storage medium (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk(DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device (e.g., card, stick, keydrive), random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmableROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM),a register, a removable disk, and/or other mediums for storingprogramming, as well as any combination thereof

The storage medium 706 may be coupled to the processing circuit 702 suchthat the processing circuit 702 can read information from, and writeinformation to, the storage medium 706. That is, the storage medium 706can be coupled to the processing circuit 702 so that the storage medium706 is at least accessible by the processing circuit 702, includingexamples where the storage medium 706 is integral to the processingcircuit 702 and/or examples where the storage medium 706 is separatefrom the processing circuit 702 (e.g., resident in the wirelesscommunication device 700, external to the wireless communication device700, distributed across multiple entities).

The storage medium 706 may include programming stored thereon. Suchprogramming, when executed by the processing circuit 702, can cause theprocessing circuit 702 to perform one or more of the various functionsand/or process steps described herein. In at least some examples, thestorage medium 706 may include non-orthogonal transmission (Tx)operations 716 adapted to cause the processing circuit 702 to senduplink non-orthogonal transmissions and/or downlink non-orthogonaltransmissions, as described herein. In addition or in the alternative,the storage medium 706 may include non-orthogonal reception (Rx)operations 718 adapted to cause the processing circuit 702 to receiveand decode uplink non-orthogonal transmissions and/or downlinknon-orthogonal transmissions, as described herein.

Thus, according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, theprocessing circuit 702 is adapted to perform (independently or inconjunction with the storage medium 706) any or all of the processes,functions, steps and/or routines for any or all of the wirelesscommunication devices described herein (e.g., base station 102, accessterminal 104, wireless communication device 700, User A wireless device1002, User B wireless device 1006, User A device 1202, User B device1204, Receiving device 1206, wireless communication device 1302, User Awireless device 1304, User B wireless device 1306). As used herein, theterm “adapted” in relation to the processing circuit 702 may refer tothe processing circuit 702 being one or more of configured, employed,implemented, and/or programmed (e.g., in conjunction with the storagemedium 706) to perform a particular process, function, step and/orroutine according to various features described herein.

In operation, the wireless communication device 700 can facilitatetransmissions of data non-orthogonally combined on a transmissionchannel. FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating at least one example of amethod operational on a wireless communication device, such as thewireless communication device 700, for facilitating non-orthogonaltransmissions. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a wireless communicationdevice 700 can determine that at least some data for transmission willbe transmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission at 802. Forexample, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) may beadapted to make a determination that at least some transmission datawill be non-orthogonally combined with data associated with anotherdevice. In some instances, the determination may be made in accordancewith information that the data will be transmitted as part of anon-orthogonal transmission.

As discussed in more detail below, the wireless communication device 700may be an access terminal sending uplink transmissions. Such a wirelesscommunications device 700 may make such a determination in response toinformation such as may be found in a transmission from a receivingdevice granting resources and indicating a code format to be used forthe transmission. In such an example, the received transmission may notexplicitly indicate a non-orthogonal combination, and the wirelesscommunication device 700 may accordingly not make an explicitdetermination that the data will be transmitted as part of anon-orthogonal transmission. Instead, the indication of a specific codeformat can be considered such a determination when that code format wasselected by the receiver in response to the data being part of anon-orthogonal transmission.

In other examples, where the wireless communication device 700 may besending downlink transmissions, the determination may be made by theprocessing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) when it selects datastreams associated with two or more devices to combine non-orthogonally.

At 804, the wireless communication device 700 may encode an amount ofdata in response to the determination at 802 that the data will betransmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission. For example, theprocessing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) may be adapted to encodean amount of data to be transmitted based on the determination that atleast some of the data will be transmitted as part of a non-orthogonaltransmission. For instance, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., theencoder 708) may be adapted to encode an amount of data to betransmitted in accordance with information that the data will betransmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission.

In some examples, the data may be encoded to be transmitted as an uplinktransmission as described in greater detail below. Generally speaking,the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) may be adapted toencode the data according to a code format indicated by a receivingdevice.

In other examples, the data may be encoded to be transmitted as adownlink transmission as also described in greater detail below. In suchexamples, the data may include a first data stream intended for a firstdevice and a second data stream intended for a second device. Generallyspeaking, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) may beadapted to encode both the first data stream and the second data stream.The processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) may be adapted tothen combine the encoded first and second data streams for thenon-orthogonal transmission. Further details associated with examples ofsuch steps are described below.

At 806, the wireless communication device 700 may transmit the encodeddata, where the encoded data is non-orthogonally combined with awireless transmission associated with another device. For example, theprocessing circuit 702 may be adapted to transmit the encoded data viathe transmitter circuit 714 of the communications interface 704. In someexamples, the encoded data may be transmitted as an uplink transmission.In such examples, the encoded data can be non-orthogonally combined onan uplink channel with the wireless transmission sent by anotherwireless communication device, as further described below. In otherexamples, the encoded data may be transmitted as a downlinktransmission. In such examples, a first encoded data stream can benon-orthogonally combined with a second encoded data stream prior tobeing transmitted by the wireless communications device 700, as furtherdescribed below.

In operation, the wireless communication device 700 may additionally oralternatively facilitate reception of data non-orthogonally combined ona transmission channel. FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating at leastone example of a method operational on a wireless communication device,such as the wireless communication device 700, for facilitatingreception of non-orthogonal transmissions. Referring to FIGS. 7 and 9, awireless communication device 700 can receive a transmission including aplurality of data streams non-orthogonally combined together, at 902.For example, the receiver circuit 712 of the communications interface704 may receive a transmission, where the received transmission includestwo or more data streams non-orthogonally combined together on achannel. According to various implementations, the received transmissionmay be a received downlink transmission, or a received uplinktransmission, examples for each being further described below.

At step 904, the wireless communication device 700 can decode at leastone of the data streams. For example, the processing circuit 702 (e.g.,the decoder 708) may be adapted to decode at least one of the datastreams. In examples where the received transmission is an uplinktransmission, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the decoder 708) may beadapted to jointly decode each of the data streams at leastsubstantially simultaneously. In some examples, processing circuit 702(e.g., the decoder 708) may be adapted to employ bit estimatesassociated with one data stream as a priori information utilized toobtain bit estimates for the bits associated with another data stream.Such features are described in more detail below.

In examples where the received transmission is a downlink transmission,the wireless communication device 700 may decode a data stream intendedfor the wireless communication device 700. In some examples, theprocessing circuit 702 (e.g., the decoder 708) may be adapted to decodethe data stream intended for another device, subtract the decoded datastream for the other device from the received transmission, and decodethe data stream intended for the wireless communication device 700 fromthe received transmission without the data intended for the otherdevice. In some examples, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the decoder708) may be adapted to decode the data stream intended for the wirelesscommunication device 700 from an expected constellation within thewireless transmission, while accounting for wrap around (modulo lattice)within the data stream. In some examples, the processing circuit 702(e.g., the decoder 708) may be adapted to decode the data streamintended for the wireless communication device 700 by treating the othernon-orthogonally combined data stream(s) as noise. Such features aredescribed in further detail below.

FIGS. 10-12 provide additional examples of uplink transmissionsincluding two or more non-orthogonal data streams. Turning to FIG. 10, ablock diagram is shown illustrating examples of wireless communicationdevices facilitating non-orthogonal uplink transmissions according to anexample. In the example of FIG. 10, each of the depicted wirelessdevices may be implemented by an embodiment of the wirelesscommunication device 700 of FIG. 7.

As shown, a wireless device 1002 identified as User A may betransmitting uplink data on a subframe including six symbols 1004. TheUser A subframe may be considered a relatively large subframe that issynchronous in nature since it adheres to the frame boundaries and theirtiming structures. A wireless device 1006 identified as User B mayobtain data for uplink transmission, where the data has a relativelysmall payload. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the UserB wireless device 1006 can transmit the obtained uplink communication asa non-orthogonal transmission that overlaps in frequency and time withthe transmissions from the User A wireless device 1002. In other words,the transmissions from the wireless device 1002 of User A and thewireless device 1006 of User B may occur at the same time, such that thetwo transmissions are non-orthogonally combined on the channel, asdepicted in FIG. 10 by the combiner 1008. The non-orthogonally combinedtransmissions are then received by the receiving wireless device 1010.

To facilitate decoding of both the transmissions combined on thechannel, the User A wireless device 1002 and the User B wireless device1006 may employ joint modulation and encoding that is adapted tofacilitate joint decoding of the transmissions that have collided.Referring now to FIG. 11, a block diagram is shown conceptuallyillustrating error correcting code for the two transmissions from FIG.10 according to at least one example. In this illustration, the circlesrepresent the bits and the parity checks associated with those bits aredepicted by the squares. Generally speaking, each parity check is tiedto multiple bits, and each bit is associated with multiple paritychecks. In this diagram, each block showing pi (π) represents aninterleaver. When the number of edges is proportional to the number ofbit nodes, then the parity check code may be a low-density parity-check(LDPC) code. In the example in FIG. 11, the wireless device 1002 forUser A from FIG. 10 can transmit the LDPC code 1102 on the top, and thewireless device 1006 for user B transmitting an overlapping thinframecan be the LDPC code 1104 on the bottom. The middle layer is a blockdiagram representation that the two colliding signals are added togetheron the channel, as is also depicted in FIG. 10. In this example ofasynchronous frame multiplexing, the parity check constraints aredistributed to allow short frame iterative decoding with a sub-frame oflonger frame structure. This example can also be generalized to caseswhere the framing across the two users is equal but offset in time.

With such a structure, where the two transmissions are encoded and thenadded together on the channel, a receiver can decode both signals with ajoint decoder. That is, the low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes andthe collision structure depicted in FIG. 11 can be used for iterativedecoding of the two users simultaneously. The receiving wireless device(e.g., a base station or other receiving wireless device) canaccordingly decode the two signals.

Turning to FIG. 12, an example of the process of FIG. 8 is depicted fornon-orthogonal uplink transmissions with joint uplink decoding. Asshown, two transmitting devices, User A 1202 and User B 1204 employaspects of the disclosure to send non-orthogonal uplink transmissions toa receiving device 1206. According to aspects of the present disclosure,each of the User A device 1202, the User B device 1204, and thereceiving device 1206 may be implemented according to one or moreembodiments of the wireless communication device 700 described abovewith reference to FIG. 7.

Initially, the User A device 1202 and the User B device 1204 each sendsa respective pilot signal transmission 1208, 1210 to the receivingdevice 1206 for channel estimation. Based at least in part on the pilotsignals, the receiving device 1206 can estimate an achievable rateallocation across users at 1212. For example, the receiving device 1206can estimate the two rates together that the two user devices 1202, 1204can support.

Using the estimated pair of achievable rate allocations for the two userdevices, the receiving device 1206 can provide a respective grant 1214,1216 to each user device 1202, 1204. The grant includes a code format tobe used for the non-orthogonal transmission from the two user devices1202, 1204. In at least one example, the code format may include alow-density parity-check (LDPC) code. According to an aspect, theselected code formats can be adaptive. That is, if the channel estimateis good (e.g., relatively good signal-to-noise ratios), the receivingdevice can select higher rates that together are jointly decodable, andif the channel estimate is bad (e.g., relatively bad signal-to-noiseratios), the receiving device can select lower rates.

Using the indicated code format, the User A device 1202 and the User Bdevice 1204 each sends an uplink transmission 1218, where at least aportion of the two uplink transmissions overlap in a non-orthogonalmanner. In order to differentiate the two non-orthogonal transmissionsfrom the user devices, each transmission may employ a unique PN.

At 1220, the receiving device 1206 can then jointly decode thenon-orthogonal uplink transmissions from the two user devices 1202,1204. That is, instead of decoding one of the uplink transmissions, andthen removing the decoded uplink transmission from the uplink stream todecode the other uplink transmission, the receiving device 1206 candecode the two transmissions at least substantially simultaneously.

For example, the receiving device can employ the received bits on thechannel from both transmissions to obtain initial estimates regardingthe received symbols. More specifically, the receiving device 1206 canemploy the channel estimates propagated out to determine the bitestimates based on parity checks. The receiving device 1206 can thenemploy the bit estimates as a priori knowledge to revisit the channeland improve the bit estimates utilizing the a priori information. Inthis manner, the transmissions from the User A device 1202 and the UserB device 1204 can both be utilized together to obtain improved channelestimates, which enables both transmissions to obtain improvements indecoding. In other words, the channel estimates obtained for the User Atransmission are utilized in decoding and estimating the channel for theUser B transmission, and vice versa. The receiving device 1206 canutilize the different PNs employed by the User devices to differentiatewhich symbol is associated with which user device.

FIGS. 13-16 provide additional examples of downlink transmissionsincluding two or more non-orthogonal data streams. Turning now to FIG.13, a block diagram is shown illustrating a non-orthogonal downlinktransmissions according to at least one example. In the example of FIG.13, each of the depicted wireless devices may be implemented by anembodiment of the wireless communication device 700 of FIG. 7.

As shown, a wireless communication device 1302 may be adapted to senddownlink transmissions to two or more other wireless devices, such asthe User A wireless device 1304 and the User B wireless device 1306. Insome instances, the wireless device 1302 may obtain data to be sent tothe User A device 1304, as well as data to be sent to the User B device1306. According to aspects of the disclosure, the wireless device 1302can combine the data for User B with the data for User A, and transmitthe data for both devices in an overlapping non-orthogonal manner. Forexample, a thinframe for the User B data can be combined with a longframe, or regular frame transmission for the User A data in anon-orthogonal manner so that both transmissions are sentsimultaneously.

As depicted in FIG. 13, the encoder 708 (shown in FIG. 7) is implementedas a joint encoder 1308. The joint encoder 1308 is an example of anencoder 708 depicted in FIG. 7, where the encoder 708 is configured toencode data streams for User A and for User B for non-orthogonaltransmission. The joint encoder 1308 may also non-orthogonally combinethe data streams for User A and User B.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a flow diagram is shown depicting one exampleof a process for encoding data for a non-orthogonal transmissionsaccording to step 804 in FIG. 8 for downlink transmission. The processof FIG. 14 may represent operations associated with configurations forthe processing circuit 702 and/or programming included as part of thenon-orthogonal transmission operations 716. With reference to FIGS. 7and 14, the processing circuit 702 for a transmitting wireless device(e.g., wireless communication device 1302 in FIG. 13) receives channelestimates via the communications interface 704 from multiple users(e.g., User A wireless device 1304 and User B wireless device 1306 inFIG. 13) at operation block 1402.

Based on the channel estimates, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., theencoder 708) may be adapted to select the multiple users for jointtransmission at operation block 1404.

Because data streams to the two users will be transmitted together(non-orthogonally), the power will be split between the two users'respective data streams. Therefore, at operation block 1406, theprocessing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) may be adapted to selecta power allocation to be applied between the data stream to betransmitted to the User A wireless device 1304 and the data stream to betransmitted to the User B wireless device 1306. That is, a powerallocation may be determined between a first data stream intended forthe User A wireless device 1304 and a second data stream intended forthe User B wireless device 1306. The processing circuit 702 (e.g., theencoder 708) may be adapted to select the power for the two devicesbased the demand for each user and/or based on some degree of fairnessbetween the users. For example, the power allocation between the twousers may be determined in such a way as to ensure that they will haveequal rates, or to be fairly allocated between the two users.

At operation block 1408, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder708) may be adapted to select a precoding matrix for the data streamintended for the User A wireless device 1304 assuming there is nointerference from the data stream intended for the User B wirelessdevice 1306. The processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708)executing the non-orthogonal transmission operations 716 can select theprecoding matrix for the first data stream for the User A wirelessdevice 1304 assuming no interference from the second data stream for theUser B wireless device 1306 because the interference from the seconddata stream will either be canceled at the User A device 1304 or it willbe pre-canceled by the transmitter, as will be discussed in furtherdetail below.

At operation block 1410, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder708) may be adapted to also select a precoding matrix for the seconddata stream intended for the User B wireless device 1306. In this case,the precoding matrix for the second data stream intended for the User Bwireless device 1306 is selected with the knowledge that the first datastream intended for the User A device 1304 will create interference withthe second data stream intended for the User B device 1306.

At operation block 1412, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder708) may be adapted to code and modulate the two data streams (e.g., thefirst data stream intended for the User A device 1304 and the seconddata stream intended for the User B device 1306). These coded andmodulated data streams can then be sent non-orthogonally on the samechannel to the two receiving devices (User A wireless device 1304 andUser B wireless device 1306), as described above with reference to 806in FIG. 8.

Some more specific examples of encoding non-orthogonal downlinktransmissions according to step 804 in FIG. 8, as well as examples ofconfigurations to encoder 708 for performing such non-orthogonaldownlink transmissions will now be described with reference to FIGS. 15and 16.

In one example, the processing circuit 702 (e.g., the encoder 708) maybe adapted to use superposition coding (SPC) for the two data streams.Referring to FIG. 15 a block diagram is shown depicting an example ofthe non-orthogonal multiple access downlink transmissions usingsuperposition coding. In this example, the two data streams are simplysuperimposed on top of each other, such that one receiving device willdecode the other data stream and cancel it. In this example, it isassumed that the strong user (e.g., the user with the best channelquality) will decode the data stream for the weak user (e.g., the userwith the lower channel quality), and then cancel that data stream todecode the data stream intended for the strong user, while the weak usercan decode the data stream with the extra interference and withoutsimilar cancellation. This feature may be applicable because the noiseis already significant on the channel for the weak user, and thecancellation of the interference caused by the data stream for thestrong user is somewhat inconsequential. That is, the weak user obtainsvery little benefit to cancelling the interference from the data streamfor the strong user, since there will still be significant noise on thechannel. On the other hand, the strong user has less noise on thechannel. When the two data streams are sent together, the data streamfor the weak user may become the dominant source of noise on the channelfor the strong user, such that cancellation of the noise caused by theweak user's data stream can enable better decoding by the strong user.

As shown, the wireless communication device 1302 includes a jointencoder with one or more encoders 1502 for encoding one or more datastreams associated with the User A data and one or more encoders 1504for encoding one or more data streams associated with the User B data.Although multiple encoders are depicted in FIG. 15, it will be apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art that a single encoder may beemployed to encode each of the data streams for each transmission, aswell as multiple encoders.

The joint encoder further includes one or more precoders, such as theprecoders 1506 and 1508. In this example, the first precoder 1506 canselect a precoding matrix for the User A data stream(s) assuming nointerference from the User B transmission. The second precoder 1508 canselect a precoding matrix for the User B data stream(s), where thesecond precoder 1508 takes into account the interference that willresult from the User A data stream(s).

More specifically, the wireless communication device 1302 (e.g., thejoint encoder 1308 in FIG. 13) selects encoding and precoding for thestream associated with each user, User A and User B. The encoder 1502for the User A stream(s) can encode (e.g., turbo code, LDPC) the datastream(s) for User A, and the precoder 1506 can select the precodingmatrix for User A assuming no interference from User B (e.g.,y_(A)=H_(A)V_(A)d_(A)+n_(A)). The encoder 1504 for the User B streamscan encode the data stream(s) for User B, and the precoder 1508 canselect the precoding matrix for the User

B data stream by taking into account the data stream for User A (e.g.,y_(B) =H_(B) (V_(B)d_(B) +V_(A)d_(A))+n_(A)). Because of thenon-orthogonal nature of the transmission, each of the encoders 1502,1504 may select a lower code rate to handle the interference from theother user's data stream, and the precoding matrix may be selected bythe precoders 1506, 1508 in a manner to compensate for the interference.

In the depicted example, the User A wireless device 1304 is the stronguser and the User B wireless device 1306 is the weak user. Accordinglythe User A decoder 1510 of the User A wireless device 1304 first decodesthe User B data stream and cancels it from the received transmission todecode the User A data stream. The User B decoder 1512 of the User Bwireless device 1306 decodes the User B data stream treating the User Adata stream as noise.

In one example, the wireless communication device 1302 may use Martoncoding, which is also known as dirty-paper coding (DPC), for the twodata streams. Referring to FIG. 16 a block diagram is shown depicting anexample of the non-orthogonal multiple access downlink transmissionsusing dirty-paper coding. In this example, the wireless communicationdevice 1302 includes a joint encoder with one or more encoders 1602 forencoding one or more data streams associated with the User A data andone or more encoders 1604 for encoding one or more data streamsassociated with the User B data. Although multiple encoders are depictedin FIG. 16, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artthat a single encoder may be employed to encode each of the data streamsfor each transmission, as well as multiple encoders.

The joint encoder further includes one or more precoders, such as theprecoders 1606 and 1608. In this example, the first precoder 1606 canselect a precoding matrix for the User A data stream(s) accounting forinterference from the User B data stream(s). More specifically, atransformation precoder 1610 may be employed to utilize the results fromthe encoding and precoding of the User B data stream(s) to provide aninput to the encoder 1602 for encoding and then precoding at theprecoder 1606 the User A data stream(s). The second precoder 1608 canselect a precoding matrix for the User B data stream(s) based on astandard calculation as if there would be no interference from the UserA data stream(s).

In this example, the first encoder 1602 and precoder 1606 can encode andprecode the User A data stream(s) accounting for the interference thatwill be caused by the User B transmission. For instance, the encoder1602 can pre-subtract relative to some other symbol set. By way of anexample, assuming User A has some set of constellation points, a desiredconstellation is determined for use for the User A transmission. Takingaccount for the User B transmission that will be added to, and causeinterference with the User A transmission, a new constellation can becalculated for the User A transmission, such that adding the newconstellation for the User A transmission to the interference caused bythe User B transmission results in the desired constellation for theUser A transmission. That is, the wireless communication device 1302 canselect a new constellation point for the User A transmission based onthe determination that the interference caused by the User Btransmission will push the User A transmission into the desiredconstellation point for the User A transmission.

More specifically, the second encoder 1604 may encode the User B datastream(s) and the second precoder 1608 may select a precoding matrix forthe User B data stream(s) assuming no interference from the User A datastream(s). The results of the encoded User B data can be provided to thetransformation precoder 1610 to be utilized in preparing (e.g., encodingand precoding) the User A data stream(s). In one example, 4 QAM may beemployed for the User A data stream(s), and it may be determined thatthe User A data stream is to be sent with a (1,1) mapping. Assuming thatthe transformation precoder 1610 determines that the User B data streamwill add a value of 2 of interference to the transmission point for theUser A data stream, then the first encoder 1602 and first precoder 1606can prepare the User A data stream for a (1,−1) mapping to compensatefor the interference caused by the User B data stream. That is, in orderto obtain a (1,1) mapping for the User A data stream, the wirelesscommunication device 1302 can select a (1,−1) transmission for the UserA data stream because it is determined that the interference caused bythe User B data stream will push the User A data stream into the (1,1)location. Although 4 QAM is described in this example, it should beapparent that any modulation scheme can be employed. Further, in thisexample, the User A data stream will experience wrap around, which mayalso be referred to as modulo lattice, which wrap around may be dealtwith by the decoding device.

At the User A wireless device 1304, the User A data stream will be foundin the expect constellation, as a result of the interference asdescribed above. The User A device 1304 can decode the data stream atthe decoder 1612. The decoder 1612 can be configured to take intoaccount wrap around (or modulo lattice) that may occur when the User Adata stream is transmitted as described above. At the User B wirelessdevice 1306, the User B data stream is decoded by the decoder 1614. TheUser B decoder 1614 can be configured to treat the User A data stream asnoise when decoding the User B data stream.

Further aspects of the present disclosure relate to capabilities of thenetwork to manage non-orthogonal multiple access among a plurality ofwireless communication devices. Turning to FIG. 17, a block diagram isshown illustrating select components of a network entity 1700 accordingto at least one example. The network entity 1700 may include aprocessing circuit 1702 coupled to or placed in electrical communicationwith a storage medium 1704.

The processing circuit 1702 includes circuitry arranged to obtain,process and/or send data, control data access and storage, issuecommands, and control other desired operations. The processing circuit1702 may include circuitry adapted to implement desired programmingprovided by appropriate media in at least one example, and/or circuitryadapted to perform one or more functions described in this disclosure.The processing circuit 1702 may be implemented and/or configuredaccording to any of the examples of the processing circuit 702 describedabove with reference to FIG. 7.

In some instances, the processing circuit 1702 may include anon-orthogonal multiple access management circuit and/or module 1706.The non-orthogonal multiple access management circuit and/or module 1706may include circuitry and/or programming (e.g., programming stored onthe storage medium 1704) adapted to manage the level of non-orthogonalmultiple access that may be employed, as described herein.

The storage medium 1704 may represent one or more processor-readabledevices for storing programming, such as processor executable code orinstructions (e.g., software, firmware), electronic data, databases, orother digital information. The storage medium 1704 may be configuredand/or implemented in a manner similar to the storage medium 706described above with reference to FIG. 7.

The storage medium 1704 may be coupled to the processing circuit 1702such that the processing circuit 1702 can read information from, andwrite information to, the storage medium 1704. That is, the storagemedium 1704 can be coupled to the processing circuit 1702 so that thestorage medium 1704 is at least accessible by the processing circuit1702, including examples where the storage medium 1704 is integral tothe processing circuit 1702 and/or examples where the storage medium1704 is separate from the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., resident in thenetwork entity 1700, external to the network entity 1700, distributedacross multiple entities).

The storage medium 1704 may include programming stored thereon. Suchprogramming, when executed by the processing circuit 1702, can cause theprocessing circuit 1702 to perform one or more of the various functionsand/or process steps described herein. In at least some examples, thestorage medium 1704 may include non-orthogonal multiple accessmanagement operations 1708 adapted to cause the processing circuit 1702to manage the non-orthogonal multiple access within one or more wirelesscommunication devices in a wireless network.

Thus, according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, theprocessing circuit 1702 is adapted to perform (independently or inconjunction with the storage medium 1704) any or all of the processes,functions, steps and/or routines for any or all of the network entitiesdescribed herein (e.g., base station 102, network entity 1700). As usedherein, the term “adapted” in relation to the processing circuit 1702may refer to the processing circuit 1702 being one or more ofconfigured, employed, implemented, and/or programmed (e.g., inconjunction with the storage medium 1704) to perform a particularprocess, function, step and/or routine according to various featuresdescribed herein.

In some aspects, a network entity 1700 may be adapted to coordinate theamount of non-orthogonal multiple access a particular wirelesscommunication device (e.g., a base station) may be enabled to facilitateat a given time.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram illustrating at least one example of a methodoperational on a network entity, such as the network entity 1700.Referring to FIGS. 17 and 18, a network entity 1700 may detect one ormore conditions within a wireless network at 1802. For example, theprocessing circuit 1702 (e.g., the non-orthogonal multiple accessmanagement circuit/module 1706) may be adapted to monitor one or moreaspects within a wireless network to detect conditions within thewireless network.

At 1804, the network entity 1700 may coordinate an amount ofnon-orthogonal multiple access available within at least a portion ofthe wireless network in response to the one or more detected conditions.For example, the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., the non-orthogonalmultiple access management circuit/module 1706) may be adapted to adjustone or more levels of non-orthogonal multiple access available within aportion of the network at a given period of time based on the detectedconditions.

In one example, the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., the non-orthogonalmultiple access management circuit/module 1706) may be adapted to deploystatic capacity for providing a determined amount of traffic that isnon-orthogonal, such as an amount of synchronous traffic that is allowedto collide and/or an amount of asynchronous traffic that is allowed tocollide. One example of this may include limiting the non-orthogonaltraffic to the lowest payload. Another example of this may includelimiting the non-orthogonal traffic to specific registered devices. Inthis instance, when a device registers with the network, the network cantell a registering device whether there is bandwidth available fornon-orthogonal multiple access, and whether all communications will needto be orthogonal multiple access or whether at least some communicationscan be non-orthogonal multiple access.

In another example, the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., thenon-orthogonal multiple access management circuit/module 1706) executingthe non-orthogonal multiple access management operations 1708 cancoordinate and choose whether to increase or decrease non-orthogonalmultiple access. In some implementations, the processing circuit 1702(e.g., the non-orthogonal multiple access management circuit/module1706) may be adapted to cause a message to be broadcast, where thebroadcast message indicates whether the network is acceptingnon-orthogonal multiple access. For instance, if a detected conditionincludes information that a base station is heavily loaded, the basestation could be instructed by the network entity 1700 (or on its ownaccord if the base station is the relevant network entity 1700) tobroadcast a message indicating that it will not accept anynon-orthogonal multiple access or an increase in non-orthogonal multipleaccess. On the other hand, if the detected condition includes anindication that the network is lightly loaded, a message can bebroadcast indicating that non-orthogonal multiple access andasynchronous transmissions will be allowed.

In some instances, the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., the non-orthogonalmultiple access management circuit/module 1706) may be adapted todetermine and indicate modulation and coding techniques to be employedfor non-orthogonal downlink transmissions. For example, the processingcircuit 1702 (e.g., the non-orthogonal multiple access managementcircuit/module 1706) may be adapted to instruct a downlink transmitterto employ one of superposition coding, Marton coding (also known as“dirty-paper” coding), and low-density parity-check (LDPC) coding basedon one or more conditions within the network.

In some instances, the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., the non-orthogonalmultiple access management circuit/module 1706) may be adapted to scalenon-orthogonal multiple access based on operation across numerous basestations. For example, if the processing circuit 1702 (e.g., thenon-orthogonal multiple access management circuit/module 1706)determines that a particular base station has neighboring base stationsthat are significantly loaded, the network entity 1700 can enable orincrease non-orthogonal multiple access at the base station to helprelieve the load on the neighboring base stations.

While the above discussed aspects, arrangements, and embodiments arediscussed with specific details and particularity, one or more of thecomponents, steps, features and/or functions illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and/or 18 may berearranged and/or combined into a single component, step, feature orfunction or embodied in several components, steps, or functions.Additional elements, components, steps, and/or functions may also beadded or not utilized without departing from the present disclosure. Theapparatus, devices and/or components illustrated in FIGS. 1, 7, 10, 13,15, 16, and/or 17 may be configured to perform or employ one or more ofthe methods, features, parameters, and/or steps described in FIGS. 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, and/or 18. The novel algorithms describedherein may also be efficiently implemented in software and/or embeddedin hardware.

While features of the present disclosure may have been discussedrelative to certain embodiments and figures, all embodiments of thepresent disclosure can include one or more of the advantageous featuresdiscussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may havebeen discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more ofsuch features may also be used in accordance with any of the variousembodiments discussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplaryembodiments may have been discussed herein as device, system, or methodembodiments, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments canbe implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.

Also, it is noted that at least some implementations have been describedas a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, astructure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describethe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when itsoperations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, afunction, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function. The variousmethods described herein may be partially or fully implemented byprogramming (e.g., instructions and/or data) that may be stored in aprocessor-readable storage medium, and executed by one or moreprocessors, machines and/or devices.

Those of skill in the art would further appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, orany combination thereof To clearly illustrate this interchangeability,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system.

The various features associate with the examples described herein andshown in the accompanying drawings can be implemented in differentexamples and implementations without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, although certain specific constructionsand arrangements have been described and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictiveof the scope of the disclosure, since various other additions andmodifications to, and deletions from, the described embodiments will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the scope of thedisclosure is only determined by the literal language, and legalequivalents, of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless communication device, comprising: anencoder adapted to encode data in accordance with information that thedata will be transmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission; atransmitter circuit adapted to wirelessly transmit the encoded dataoutput by the encoder; and wherein the encoded data is non-orthogonallycombined as part of a non-orthogonal transmission.
 2. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 1, wherein the transmitter circuittransmits the encoded data as an uplink transmission, and wherein theencoded data is non-orthogonally combined on an uplink channel with awireless transmission from a second wireless communication device. 3.The wireless communication device of claim 2, wherein the informationincludes a message indicating a code format for encoding the data, andwherein the encoder encodes the data according to the indicated codeformat, and further comprising: a receiver circuit adapted to receivethe message indicating the code format.
 4. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 1, wherein: the data to be encoded includes a first datastream for a first device and a second data stream for a second device;the encoder includes a joint encoder to encode and non-orthogonallycombine the first data stream and the second data stream; and thetransmitter circuit wirelessly transmits the encoded andnon-orthogonally combined first and second data streams as a downlinktransmission.
 5. The wireless communication device of claim 4, whereinthe joint encoder encodes and non-orthogonally combines the first datastream and the second data stream by: determining a power allocationbetween the first data stream and the second data stream; selecting afirst precoding matrix for the first data stream while assuming nointerference from the second data stream; and selecting a secondprecoding matrix for the second data stream while accounting forinterference caused by the first data stream.
 6. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 5, wherein the joint encoder employs atleast one of superposition coding or dirty-paper coding for the firstdata stream and the second data stream.
 7. A method operational on awireless communication device, comprising: encoding an amount of data inresponse to a determination that at least some of the data will betransmitted as part of a non-orthogonal transmission; and transmittingthe encoded data, wherein the encoded data is non-orthogonally combinedas part of a non-orthogonal transmission.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the encoded data is transmitted as an uplink transmission,wherein the encoded data is non-orthogonally combined on an uplinkchannel with a wireless transmission from a second wirelesscommunication device.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:receiving a transmission indicating a code format to be used for theuplink transmission that will be non-orthogonally combined on the uplinkchannel; and encoding the amount of data according to the indicated codeformat.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the amount of data comprisesa first data stream intended for a first device and a second data streamintended for a second device, and wherein transmitting the encoded dataincludes: non-orthogonally combining the first data stream with thesecond data stream; and transmitting the non-orthogonally combined firstand second data streams as a downlink transmission.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein encoding the amount of data includes: determining apower allocation between the first data stream and the second datastream; selecting a first precoding matrix for the first data streamassuming no interference from the second data stream; selecting a secondprecoding matrix for the second data stream while accounting forinterference caused by the first data stream; and encoding and combiningthe first data stream and the second data stream according to therespectively selected precoding matrices.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein encoding and combining the first data stream and the second datastream according to the respectively selected precoding matricesincludes: employing at least one of superposition coding or dirty-papercoding for the first and second data streams.
 13. The method of claim11, wherein selecting the second precoding matrix for the second datastream while accounting for interference caused by the first data streamincludes: determining a desired constellation for the second datastream; determining interference on the second data stream to be causedby the first data stream when the first data stream is combined with thesecond data stream; and calculating a new constellation for the seconddata stream such that adding the new constellation for the second datastream with the interference caused by the first data stream results inthe desired constellation for the second data stream.
 14. A wirelesscommunication device, comprising: a receiver circuit adapted to receivea wireless transmission comprising a plurality of data streamsnon-orthogonally combined together; and a decoder coupled to thereceiver circuit to obtain the wireless transmission, the decoderadapted to decode at least one of the data streams.
 15. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14, wherein the wireless transmission isan uplink transmission, and wherein the decoder decodes at least one ofthe data streams by: employing bit estimates associated with a firstdata stream as a priori information utilized to obtain bit estimates forbits associated with a second data stream.
 16. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14, wherein the wireless transmission isan uplink transmission including a plurality of data streams employing alow-density parity check (LDPC) code.
 17. The wireless communicationdevice of claim 14, wherein the wireless transmission is an uplinktransmission, and wherein the decoder iteratively decodes the pluralityof data streams at least substantially simultaneously.
 18. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14, wherein the wireless transmission is adownlink transmission, and wherein the decoder decodes at least one ofthe data streams by: decoding a first data stream intended for a secondwireless communication device; subtracting the decoded first data streamfrom the wireless transmission; and decoding a second data streamintended for the wireless communication device from the wirelesstransmission without the first data stream.
 19. The wirelesscommunication device of claim 14, wherein the wireless transmission is adownlink transmission, and wherein the decoder decodes at least one ofthe data streams by: decoding a data stream intended for the wirelesscommunication device from an expected constellation within the wirelesstransmission, while accounting for wrap around within the data stream.20. The wireless communication device of claim 14, wherein the wirelesstransmission is a downlink transmission, and wherein the decoder decodesat least one of the data streams by: decoding a data stream intended forthe wireless communication device treating a second non-orthogonallycombined data stream as noise.
 21. A method operational on a wirelesscommunication device, comprising: receiving a wireless transmissioncomprising a plurality of data streams non-orthogonally combinedtogether; and decoding at least one of the data streams.
 22. The methodof claim 21, wherein: receiving the wireless transmission includesreceiving an uplink transmission; and decoding at least one of the datastreams includes employing bit estimates associated with a first datastream as a priori information utilized to obtain bit estimates for thebits associated with a second data stream.
 23. The method of claim 21,wherein: receiving the wireless transmission includes receiving anuplink transmission; and decoding at least one of the data streamsincludes iteratively decoding the plurality of data streams at leastsubstantially simultaneously.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein:receiving the wireless transmission includes receiving a downlinktransmission; and decoding at least one of the data streams includes:decoding a first data stream; subtracting the decoded first data streamfrom the wireless transmission; and decoding a second data stream fromthe wireless transmission without the first data stream.
 25. The methodof claim 21, wherein: receiving the wireless transmission includesreceiving a downlink transmission; and decoding at least one of the datastreams includes decoding a data stream from an expected constellationwithin the wireless transmission, while accounting for wrap aroundwithin the data stream.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein: receivingthe wireless transmission includes receiving a downlink transmission;and decoding at least one of the data streams includes decoding a firstdata stream while treating a second non-orthogonally combined datastream as noise.